Section 2
1. Section 2
1.9. Explore 4
Section 2: Slope—Rate of Change
To this point you have only been multiplying by conversion factors to solve problems. But in reality you may find cases where you need to divide by a conversion factor.
A Swedish motorist was caught speeding on a motorway (highway) in Switzerland. He was driving close to 300 km/h! That is almost the distance from Edmonton to Calgary, and he would have gone this distance in about ONE hour (maybe a little longer, but not much longer).
The fine he had to pay was about $1 million. His excuse was that the speedometer was not functioning properly!
Example
© aleksey ipatov/23629605/Fotolia
It’s not just in the summer that people move quickly down a hill. Darren Powell holds the world record for speed snowboarding, at 56.08 m/s. (It’s not your regular fun slide down a hill.)
Use Powell’s world record speed to determine how long it would take him to complete a 500-m race. Here is one way to determine the answer.
His speed of 56.08 m in 1 s can be used as a conversion factor; either as 
.
Then 500 m will take him how many seconds?
You could also think how many 56.08 m are there in 500 m. You would then do the following:
